Monday, April 4, 2016

When I first came to the
University of Toronto to teach, I felt an abiding sense of “home” braced with
the thrill of adventure. It was like “falling in love.” Really.

To fall in love is like
coming home, after all. And what is “home” but a tapestry of splendid memories
whose textures weave us into who we presently are. It’s been three years since
I came to UofT and I still feel that glowing thrill every time I walk through
campus. Whether it’s past a century-old stone building, beneath a canopied
archway of chestnuts, into a well-treed enclave, or through a high-ceilinged
glass building; I am both home and on an adventure.

UofT is a place of learning—erudite,
splendid, yet humble—beautifully epitomizing “new embracing old”. When new
embraces old, we get magic. Wizard-magic. Harry Potter kind of magic. The kind
of magic that only someone who is open, faithful, and confident can wield. This
is ancient magic. The magic that lurks like Reznikoff’s ghost in the ancient
halls of University College, or the magic currently wielded at 1 Spadina. A
magic borne of wisdom, lore, and story.

Courtyard behind University College

All good stories understand
and appreciate their origins. Good story builds on tradition toward something
new and evolutionary. To journey forward, one must acknowledge the past. Ultimately,
as Joseph Campbell said, that journey is a journey “home”.

UofT was founded 175 years
ago as King’s College at the head of King’s circle. It was the first
institution of higher learning in the colony of what was then Upper Canada. King’s
College became the University of Toronto in 1849, and has steadily grown to
include two more campuses (one in Scarborough and another in Mississauga),
9,000 faculty and staff and more than 60,000 graduate and undergraduate
students. UofT has spawned major research achievements such as the
discovery of insulin, the creation of the first electronic heart pacemaker, the
single lung transplant and the discovery of the gene responsible for the most
severe form of Alzheimer's disease. Recent advances include the discovery of
the gene responsible for cystic fibrosis, cloning of the T-cell gene, and the
world's first nerve transplant. During the research for my book Water
Is… I continually ran across major achievements by UofT researchers in
water and water-related science: from quantum entanglement in photosynthesis to
billion-year water found in deep Canadian mine shafts. They are, of course,
referred to in my book.

Diabolos and Reznikoff of University College

The St. George campus of
UofT lies embedded in the city of Toronto, steps away from the upscale shopping
district of Yonge and Bloor and not much farther from the bustle of the
financial district on King and Bay. It’s a bracing walk to Union Station, where
every moving vehicle ends up at some time. UofT sprawls like an amoeba of
neutrinos through the parliament buildings of University Avenue, making subtle
changes here and there. Recreating the fabric of the cityscape in muonic
subtleties.

This isn’t a typical
century-old university campus, isolated from its city surroundings by an
enclave of heritage buildings within an ornate campus of landscaped gardens and
paths. UofT certainly has some of that. But the UofT downtown campus also
sprawls dozens of blocks in all directions; embedding itself in the city with a
blend of century-old buildings and avant-garde modern chic. It’s not so much
re-inventing itself at every turn as morphing and co-evolving with the city. Old
and new fold into one another, resembling symmetrical folds of metamorphic rock
along a fault line. Like the entangled embrace of a Henry Moore sculpture.

I went on walkabout recently,
after the last snows receded and gave way to the warm and restless winds of
spring. The day blustered as I pulled up the collar of my spring coat and
headed south from the St. George subway station. The sun beamed with the
promise of hot summer days as the churlish wind stirred up leaves and debris
into mini tornadoes. Winter’s detritus tracked a dizzy path, like whirling
dervishes in tune with a seasonal dance.

I took my usual route south
on St. George, toward Galbraith and Bahen buildings, where I teach, and soon
found several examples of “new meets old”.

Max Gluskin House

Max Gluskin House: UofT’s economics department recently expanded its home by connecting
the department’s original Victorian and Georgian Revival buildings with a
glass-enclosed hallway and a modern three-story addition called Max Gluskin
House. The expansion unifies three heritage buildings with a contemporary glass
building that creates an open connection. Its rust-coloured Corten steel harmonizes
with the historic brick and, integrated with landscape features, provide an
improved street presence.

Max Gluskin House includes a large undergraduate
common room that faces into a courtyard, offices and research space for
graduate students and faculty, rooms for TAs to meet with students, and
expanded computer facilities. The project beautifully preserves and restores the beauty
of the formal portions of the Victorian house, built in 1889 for William
Crowther, and major portions of the Georgian building, completed in 1961. Ira Gluskin,
who graduated from UofT’s commerce and finance program in 1964, provided the
lead gift for the renovation. The facility is named in honour of his father,
Max, who graduated from the same program in 1936.The renovation won second place
in the commercial and institutional category of Toronto’s 2009 PUG Awards, the
people’s choice awards in architecture.

John Downey House embraced by Rotman

Rotman School
of Management & John Downey House:When the Rotman School
of Management needed to accommodate an ever-growing programming, student body,
and faculty, it expanded 10-stories up right around John Downey House. Built in
1889, John Downey House typifies the Richardsonian Romanesque and Queen Anne
Revival styles; called the Annex Style, it’s a blend of American and British
architectural influences often associated with the wealthy.

The building emphasizes
elaborate masonry and incorporates a prominent gable, woodwork and dormers. The
Canadian School for Missions enlarged the building in 1929 with a two-storey
addition in the Collegiate Gothic style. With the lofty backdrop of the Rotman
Centre looming like a sentinel behind it, John Downey House sits like a russet
island nested comfortably in a modern sea of cerulean glass. The centre itself,
which I entered through an unassuming glass door, opens Tardis-like into an
expansive open atrium with comfortable lounge and fireplace, study areas and
stairways snaking up into ever higher levels

Atrium of Bahen with Koffler outer wall

Bahen & Koffler Buildings: The Bahen Centre for Information Technology was
designed and built in 2002 to facilitate cross-disciplinary teaching and
research for UofT’s Faculty of Arts and Science and the Faculty of Engineering.
Named after John Bahen, president of the Peter Kiewit and Sons building
company, it was based on the concept of a high-tech loft space, wrapping to the
south and west around the 1909 Koffler Student Centre and to the north around
1878 Chadwick House.

The vaulting skylit arcade uses the Koffler Centre’s older
outer wall as its south wall to provide pedestrian connections through the
building; at its centre, a circular stair surrounds a glass tower of shared
meeting rooms for eight levels.

Bahen’s north wing embraces Chadwick House, a

Chadwick House meets Bahen

Victorian house in a small courtyard opening off the street. The translucent
glass of Bahen’s pavilion forms a contrasting backdrop to the connected
Victorian building—with one of the best displays of dichromatic brickwork. The
January 2003 issue of Canadian Architect magazine dubbed the Bahen
Centre as "a complex interweaving of urbanity, public space and
sustainability." It won the Ontario Association of Architects Award and
City of Toronto Architecture and Urban Design Award, both in 2003. It also won
a Bronze in the Environmental Category of the National Post Design Exchange
Award.

Faculty Club lounge

UofT Faculty Club: Every journey requires repast—a place to relax, eat and drink—and my
feet naturally directed me to one of my new favourite haunts: the UofT Faculty
Club. Located close to the hub of the campus, on Willcocks Street just east of
Spadina, the club is open to members who include faculty, staff, graduate
alumni and their guests. I entered the 1896 heritage building, built in a
Georgian Revival-style, and passed the elegant first floor lounge to the pub
below. The pub welcomed me with excellent food, drink and a relaxing ambience.
Bathed in rich tones of wood and comfortable chairs and warmed by a cozy
fireplace, it reminded me of a Dorset pub I’d visited years ago; full of
colourful characters and a well-stocked bar. I felt both at home and like a
traveler. Like I’d walked into history with modern comfort. I ordered the beet
salad from my friendly waitress; it provided a refreshing and attractive light
meal for a mid-day traveller.

What better place to end my
journey of “new embracing old” than in a place where “old embraces new.”

About Nina

I'm The Alien Next Door. I'm an ecologist and a published author of several novels, articles and reviews. I teach writing at George Brown College and UofT. I also coach writers. For more on writing (articles and advice) and more information about my coaching, visit me at Nina Munteanu Writing Coach. Visit Nina Munteanu Writer for more about my own writing. My new site The Meaning of Water is devoted to our precious water and brings my interest as an ecologist and limnologist to help understand the meaning and importance of this precious and mysterious element. Inside, you'll find articles that explore what water is and its meaning to this planet and to us as a species and life form.